Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Prof. George Athas wrote:  “This resubmission does not further the argument 
in any way.  It simply rehashes what was proposed before: surmise and 
opinion, rather than real Ancient Near East evidence warranting a 
reconsideration.
”
 
The let’s ask if we can understand all 37 numbers in the Patriarchal 
narratives that use $NH if and only if we consider the two meanings of the 
Hebrew 
noun $NH.
 
First let’s see why there need to be two different meanings of $NH in this 
text.  Pharaoh dreams of 7 fat cows followed by 7 sickly cows, which Joseph 
correctly interprets as foretelling 7 feast $NH followed by 7 famine $NH.  
Genesis 41: 26-31.  Those $NH must be “years” (periods of 12 months), 
because Pharaoh dreamed in terms of Egyptian years, not in terms of the 
harvest 
seasons in Canaan.  [All periods of time in Egypt, but not stated ages of 
people, that are directly connected with Pharaoh’s dream of 7 fat cows and 7 
sickly cows will similarly be expressed in Genesis in terms of $NH/years, not 
$NH/equinoxes.]
 
But when Joseph is stated to be 30 $NH at the time he made that grand 
divination [Genesis 41: 46], Joseph’s age is being stated in terms of the 
vernal 
and autumnal “equinoxes”, not “years”, because the original, archaic 
meaning of $NH to the Hebrews was “change” or “changes-of-seasons”, 
reflecting 
Canaan’s two harvest seasons.  Although Joseph spends most of his life in 
Egypt, nevertheless his heart was always in Canaan, where barley was 
harvested 
in April, and grapes, olives, figs and pomegranates were gathered in 
September, at the approximate times of the equinoxes.  So Joseph, having 
witnessed 
30 $NH/equinoxes, is age 15 years.  
 
The Hebrew noun $NH is the same in both cases, but depending on the 
particular context, $NH has two different meanings:  “years” vs. “equinoxes”. 
 
Now let’s see if we can prove this analysis mathematically, as the key to 
understanding all 37 numbers in the last 40 chapters of Genesis that use $NH.
 
1.  Joseph predicts that beginning next year [1 year from now, per Genesis 
41: 29], there will be 7 $NH/years of feast, followed by 7 $NH/years of 
famine.  We are later told that Jacob leads all the Hebrews into Egypt to 
avoid 
starvation in Canaan after 2 $NH/years of those terrible famine years, and 
we are twice told that there are 5 $NH/years left of the famine years.  
Genesis 45: 6, 11.  So 10 years after Joseph makes his famous divination, 
Jacob 
leads all the Hebrews into Egypt, computed as follows:  1 + 7 + 2 = 10.  
Beginning next year = 1.  7 feast years = 7.  The first 2 famine years = 2.
 
2.  Thus Joseph can be computed to be age 25 years when his father leads 
all the Hebrews into Egypt.  Joseph was age 15 years when he made his 
divination [having witnessed 30 $NH/equinoxes].  Per #1, it is10 years later 
when 
Jacob leads the Hebrews to Egypt.  15 + 10 = 25.
 
3.  Jacob is age 65 years when he enters Egypt.  Jacob has witnessed 130 
$NH/equinoxes [Genesis 47: 9], so he’s age 65.
 
4.  Per #3 and #2, being the ages of Joseph and Jacob when Jacob leads all 
the Hebrews into Egypt, Jacob is 40 years older than Joseph.  65 – 25 = 40.  
Thus we know that Jacob sired Joseph at age 40 years.
 
5.  Jacob is born in Year 80, that is, when Abraham is age 80 years, 
computed as follows.  Isaac is born after Abraham has witnessed 100 
$NH/equinoxes 
[Genesis 21: 5], so that’s Year 50 [when Abraham is age 50 years].  Isaac 
sires Jacob after Isaac has witnessed 60 $NH/equinoxes [Genesis 25: 26], 
which 
is 30 years later.  50 + 30 = 80.  So Jacob is born in Year 80.
 
6.  Jacob sires Joseph at age 40 years [per #4].  Since Jacob was born in 
Year 80, Joseph was born in Year 120.  80 + 40 = 120.
 
7.  Joseph is age 15 years when he makes his famous interpretation of 
Pharaoh’s dreams.  We can readily compute that Joseph makes his famous 
divination 
in Year 135 [that is, 135 years after Abraham’s birth, though Abraham is no 
longer living], since [per #6] Joseph was born in Year 120.  120 + 15 = 135.
 
8.  10 years later, Jacob leads all the Hebrews into Egypt [per #1], so that
’s Year 145.  135 + 10 = 145.
 
9.  In Year 145, when Jacob leads all the Hebrews into Egypt [per #8], 
Jacob is age 65 [per #3], and we also know that Jacob was born in Year 80 
[per 
#5].  80 + 65 = 145.  Eureka!  Everything checks out perfectly.  Note how the 
stated ages of Hebrews [in this post, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, but 
also applying elsewhere to Terah, Sarah and Esau as well], expressed in 
$NH/equinoxes [per the harvest seasons in the Hebrews’ beloved Canaan], 
dovetail perfectly with stated periods of time in Egypt that relate to 
Pharaoh’s 
dream of 7 fat cows and 7 sickly cows, expressed in terms of $NH/years [since 
Pharaoh thought and dreamed in terms of Egyptian years, not in terms of the 
harvest seasons of Canaan].  That’s the genius of the Patriarchal narratives.
 
10.  Per #7, Joseph makes his famous divination in Year 135.  The 7 feast 
$NH/years are the next 7 years, being Years 136-142 inclusive.  [Counting all 
of Year 136 and all of Year 142, that’s 7 full years.]  The 7 famine 
$NH/years are then Years 143-149.  Jacob leads all the Hebrews into Egypt 
after 
the first 2 famine years.  That’s Year 145.  143 + 2 = 145.  That checks out 
perfectly with #9.
 
All 37 numbers in the Patriarchal narratives that use $NH make perfect 
sense on all levels.  All 37 numbers fit into an internal timeline of the 
Patriarchal narratives that is fully coherent to a fault, and no one is older 
than 
would be realistically expected in the ancient world, once we understand 
how the Hebrew noun $NH is being used in two different senses in the last 40 
chapters of Genesis, depending on the context.
 
Or we can go with the scholarly view:  "The over-all chronological scheme 
[of the Patriarchal narratives] remains obscure."  E.A. Speiser, “The Anchor 
Bible:  Genesis”, (1962), p. 126. "[P]rodigious life spans [are] attributed 
to the Patriarchs.”  John J. Collins, “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible” 
(2004), at p. 84.
 
Isn’t the choice clear?  Doesn’t the ability to explain, for the first 
time, all 37 numbers in the Patriarchal narratives that use $NH constitute “
real Ancient Near East evidence warranting a reconsideration”?  It’s simply a 
question of focusing on the original, archaic meaning of the Hebrew noun 
$NH:  “change”, implying in the context of time, “changes-of-seasons”, and as 
such further implying in the context of Canaan for the first Hebrews, per 
the harvest seasons, “equinoxes”, but otherwise having the acquired meaning, 
for example in the context of Egypt [and for later Hebrews generally], of “
years”.
 
The key to understanding the Patriarchal narratives is the Hebrew 
linguistics issue of focusing on the two different meanings of the Hebrew 
noun $NH:  “
change”/“changes-of-seasons”/“equinoxes” vs. “years”.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois